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Thursday, June 5, 2014

Recently I was listening to a Jillian Michaels Podcast episode and she talked about how we should treat ourselves like we should treat our children. This really struck home to me. As good parents, we treat our children like precious cargo (which we should) but we don’t do the same to ourselves (which we should!).

When we fly in airplanes, part of the emergency drill is talking about how we should put the oxygen masks over our own faces before we put it on our children’s faces. This gives both of us a better chance of survival because if we put it on the child’s face first and we die, the child may not live either. But we don’t do this in real life and maybe we should.

We make sure our children eat properly and when they should. We don’t want them to miss meals or eat ice cream and junk food all of the time. But I know many teachers (me included) who have missed meals and just ate junk food to get through the day. We encourage students to eat right before tests because it helps them think better, but we don’t treat our bodies the same way!

We expect our children to get enough sleep so they are rested enough to do the things they want to and need to do. Yet, teachers sometimes are burning the candle at both ends and get by on little sleep. Children who don’t get enough sleep can become lethargic, irritable, and have little interest in doing things that need to be done. In fact, lack of sleep can kill. We should be making sure that we get enough rest too!

Exercise and fresh air is important for our children. The same goes for our bodies! Too many adults talk about how slim and energetic they were when they were younger. Why do we not take care of our bodies when they are older?

It seems like we don’t value ourselves as much as we get older and think everything else is more important!

Now as summer vacation approaches, I urge everyone who reads this to take stock of their lives. Think about ways that you can take care of yourself the way you would your own child. Maybe stop and ask yourself, as you do things, would you let your child do this? If the answer is no, maybe it is time to rethink your decision.

We all have worth! I truly believe that God wouldn’t have put us on this earth if we didn’t. I’m not about to question God’s decision! Since I believe this, I need to start taking better care of myself physically and emotionally. By doing this, I will be able to help others more effectively, just like putting the oxygen mask over me first.